Running Out of Time
by grandis-dans-les-bois
Summary: Percy and the other demigods are recovering from the war with Gaea, when suddenly Kronos shows up. After defeating Camp Half-Blood,almost everyone but Thalia, Nico, and Percy are left dead or unconscious. Kronos, in order to punish them, sends them back in time. How will they get back to their future? Time Travel Fic!
1. Chapter 1

Percy slashed furiously at the dracanae in front of him, ignoring the blood leaking from a gash on his arm, his other arm held gingerly to the side, as if it was unusable. Annabeth was laying not to far off, looking as if she had collapsed, her eyes closed, protected by a sphere of water.

Nico stabbed the tenth hellhound, vaporizing it, before wrapping an arm around an unconscious and injured demigod at his feet, sinking into the shadows and transporting to the Apollo cabin where a tired Will Solace was treating others, before coming back to the battle.

Thalia, her arrows charged with lightning, shot arrow after arrow at a cyclops, before realizing she only had one more left. She shot the last one, then called down a lightning strike on the cyclops, glancing at her immobile brother next to her.

They were one of the few still alive and fighting. Many have died, including some of their close friends. Piper. Frank. Hazel. Clarisse. Grover. Almost all the nymphs. Tyson. Leo. So many others. But they didn't dwell on that. They kept going, kept on fighting back. Because that was the only thing they could do right now.

But still, so many deaths. So many injured. Hearing the cries of your fallen comrades, and yet not being able to go to them, to help them, was torture.

There was no help incoming. The gods have turned their backs on them. Why, they didn't know, but now almost every single one harbored a deep grudge. It was hard not to when your friends are being mindlessly slaughtered around you by an enemy you thought was dead, and not getting any help from your godly parents that could have prevented some of the deaths. And one more was about to happen.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled, seeing a monster try to pounce on her. He quickly sent a blast of water in her direction, which moved her out of the monsters way. And straight into the claws of another one.

Percy watched in unrestrained horror as a claw came down, and pierced her through the stomach. Running towards her, and falling to his knees, he started crying, surprisingly the first tears since the beginning of the battle.

And she was smiling.

Annabeth, though her eyes were closed, and there was blood pooling around her, smiled, and snuggled closer to Percy. And suddenly her eyelids flew open, and she looked at Percy, who was frightened.

And then the beautiful gray, stormy, eyes turned glassy. The whole world seemed to stop for Percy, and he started swaying. He was distinctly aware of a monster coming up behind him and Thalia rushing to block it. Nico intercepted the one coming from the right. Working together, they gave Percy the time he very much needed, to accept Annabeth's death.

They knew he was heartbroken, and they were both saddened immensely as well, but they were willing to let Percy have his moment. What they didn't expect, was a high, keening sound to come from Percy. It was a heartbroken wail, that held all of Percy's sadness, as he sobbed over Annabeth, his girlfriend, dying.

Then another wail joined him.

It was Thalia's, as a hydra shot acid at the spot where Jason was. No, no, no! Not this! First Annabeth, then Jason...why were the Fates so cruel?

She collapsed, next to Percy, as both cried together over their lost loved ones. Nico, also slightly teary eyed, gritted his teeth, and kept going. But he couldn't go much longer.

Finally, after his Stygian sword was knocked out of his hand, and his arm turned numb, sat down nest to Percy and Thalia, finally having given up.

He wrapped an arm around both of the other children of the Big Three, and prayed with all his might for his father, a god, or anyone to come. But nothing happened.

The world seemed to change color, as they went into shock. It started to spin and turn on it's axis. Slowly, they started to resign to their deaths. No one would save them this time. This is where it ended.

They heard footsteps slowly approach them, but didn't look up. They figured it was just another monster, about to kill them. At least then they could be with those that they loved.

"Tut, tut. Poor demigod scum." A dark, evil voice sounded from the one in front of them. It was a familiar and hated voice, the one that started everything. In Percy's mind, the one that killed everything. He clenched his fists.

Percy slowly got up, shaking off the arms of Thalia and Nico, who looked at him in surprise.

"You killed them." His voice was a low growl, glaring up at the Titan in front of him. Kronos.

"Hm?" Kronos smirked.

"You killed them!" Percy shouted, furious. "All of them!"

"Yes, I did." This statement only seemed to infuriate Percy further.

"I hate you!" Percy yelled, water starting to rise around him.

"Don't you hate Poseidon for not coming to help?" Kronos asked, still smirking.

Percy froze. "N-no."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah..." He sounded unsure.

Kronos snorted. This was getting too fun. "Anyway, you are probably going to hate me more."

"Why?" Thalia spoke up, her voice hoarse.

"Oh, because I'm going to send you back."

"What?!" This time Nico shouted, struggling to get to his feet.

"So I can watch you suffer all over again." At this, Thalia stood up with difficulty.

"What do you mean?" Thalia whispered, fear obvious in her voice. The fear was matched with the expressions on Percy and Nico.

"I mean..." Kronos waved his arm, and a bright flash filled their vision. "I am going send you back in time. You'll see everything happen again."

And with those words, everything disappeared.

- **A/N: Hi! This is not my first story. It came to me in a burst of inspiration, so I just sat down and started writing. I would really appreciate reviews, so please comment. My goal right now is to get at least 5. I am totally serious. This is very new, and I don't expect many reviews, and anyway, it's best to start small, right? Well, I hope you like it!**

 **All rights go to Rick Riordan!**


	2. Chapter 2

When Thalia came into conscious, she though she was dead. Where else would she be? It was too quiet, and too peaceful for her to still be alive. Hopefully she was in Elysium, where she can join Jason.

Then she heard a bird call. Still not opening her eyes, she frowned. There weren't any birds in the Underworld...were there? Cautiously, she opened one eye. She could see a bright blue sky, with a spots of fluffy clouds here and there. Okay... definitely not Elysium.

Thalia sat up, and looked around. They appeared to be in a forest of some sort. There was a creek running nearby, making soft gurgling noises. It was bright and sunny, and looked as if it was around midday. But...the battle happened more towards the evening, right?

Then she spotted Nico and Percy nearby. They were lying flat on the leafy forest floor, still unconscious. Scrambling over to them, she frantically checked their pulses. She didn't want to lose them, too! Sighing relief once she felt a weak, but steady, pulse, she gently shook them awake.

"Wha?" Percy yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Nico also sat up, and was looking around.

"Where are we? What happened to the monsters?" He asked confusedly.

"I don't know." Thalia shrugged. She surveyed the two boys she had come to think of as brothers. "What happened to your injuries?"

Both looked down at themselves. Their clothes were worn and ragged, with bloodstains where they had received cuts. But the skin underneath the clothes was perfectly fine and healthy. Thalia was in a similar state.

"How did we get here? Where is here? What happened to camp? What in Hades is going on?" Percy asked, firing the questions off in rapid succession.

"Don't ask me. I-" Thalia cut herself off, and went stiff as a board. A flood of memories entered her brain, overloading it with information.

"Thals?" Percy looked at her worriedly, with Nico coming up behind him. "What is it?"

Thalia came out of her reverie at the sound of his voice. "Oh, gods." She said breathlessly. "Do you remember?"

"Remember what?" Nico asked, looking concerned.

"Kronos..." Thalia trailed off as she saw understanding show on both boys faces. Percy paled.

"He said he sent us back in time." He stated, shivering slightly. "So are we...back in time?"

Thalia nodded. "Most likely."

"Then we are-" Nico scanned the trees. "Hey, we're in the forest at camp!"

It was true, Thalia realized. The trees were exactly the same. And that creek over there looks like the one at camp as well.

"So." Thalia said shakily. "We were sent back in time to before the war, and we are at Camp Half Blood. What do we do now?"

"I think we should go talk to Chiron." Percy spoke up. "He's been here for a long time, right? So no matter what time period we are in, he should be here." Nico nodded in agreement, and we all stood up.

"Okay then! Let's go." Thalia starts walking away, when Nico snags her arm.

"We can't just waltz into camp." He explains, rolling his eyes. "We should shadow travel to the Big House."

"If there even is a Big House." Percy mutters. At our questioning looks, he further explains. "We could've been sent so far back that there is no such thing as the Big House. Yet." Thalia frowns. She didn't think of that.

"Well, we'll just assume there is one." Thalia decided. "Remember what Kronos said? He said that he sent us back so we can witness everyone-" Thalia choked, before forcing the word out. "Dying again. So maybe sent us back to a recent time."

Percy nodded, deep in thought, before speaking up. "Do you think that there will be other us?"

"Huh?"

"You know like younger us. Like a younger me, a younger Thalia, a younger Nico...us from this time period?"

"Oh." Thalia shrugged. "Probably." Then she grinned. "Aw, Kelp Head is actually being smart for once!" She teased.

"Then we need aliases." Nico realized, ignoring Thalia.

"We'll figure that out later." Thalia waved it off. "Right now, let's go see Chiron. That reminds me, can you shadow travel Nico? I mean, do you have the energy?"

Nico shrugged. "I'll try to do it by myself first, then with you guys." He then focused, and disappeared into the shadow of a tree.

A few minutes later, he was back. "I guess all our powers got replenished."

"That's kind of odd." Thalia observed her state of dress. "In fact, all our wounds are gone as well."

It was true. Though the trio still had bloodied and shredded clothes, there was no fresh blood, no twinges of pain where former injuries were. Thalia still had her bow, though it was out of arrows, and her knife. Percy and Nico both had their respective swords.

"So, should we go now?" Percy asked.

"Of course. Whenever you're ready, Death Breath." Thalia smirked, as Nico scowled, and grabbed her and Percy's arm, a bit more roughly than he usually would have. Then they disappeared in a swirl of shadows.

Percy shook his head, disoriented. He would never be able to get used to shadow travelling. He blinked and looked around. He was in the Big House, with Nico and Thalia standing right next to him.

The Big House looked slightly different from how he remembered it. Seymour the leopard wasn't there, neither was any of the decorations Mr. D so kindly gave before he left, which was a slight relief.

Speaking of Mr. D, where was he and Chiron? Shouldn't he be at the Big House somewhere? Or maybe-oh.

Sitting at the pinochle table was Mr. D and Chiron, both staring at them open mouthed. Behind them was a satyr, who seemed to be in the process of chewing up some cards. He, too, was frozen. Percy wondered what it would be like to see three teenagers randomly appear in your supposedly protected camp, wearing bloodied clothes, as well as looking like older versions of campers that you may or may not know are still alive. Probably confusing.

Percy was brought out of his ADHD train of thought by Thalia elbowing sharply.

"Ow! Hey, Pinecone Face, what was that for?" Thalia looked at him exasperatedly, and sharply jerked her head in the direction of Chiron and Mr. D.

"Oh." Percy assumed they wanted him to talk. He raised his hand in greeting. "'Sup? We come in peace!"

Nico and Thalia facepalmed behind him.

After a long and lengthy explanation, which required a lot of convincing, a lot of oaths to Styx, and a lot of Percy making the wrong jokes at the wrong time and then being shocked slightly by Thalia, they finally managed to tell everything that had happened. Well, at least everything that explained why they were here. The Big Three demigods had silently agreed not to reveal anything about both of the wars, or any of the people who died.

For one, it was highly painful to relive those memories. After all, they had only just watched some of their closest ones die less than a day ago.

Also, it could mess up the streams of time. Especially if Chiron knew that he also died in the future...it would be a bit awkward.

So, skirting around those details, the trio managed to explain how they got here, and who they were. By the end, Chiron and Mr. D's faces have gone through a whole array of emotions, some of which encouraging Percy to start laughing out loud.

Chiron leaned forward his fake wheelchair. "We need to tell the Olympians."

The three exchanged glances, debating this. They still didn't entirely trust the gods, mainly because of their lack of help in the war.

Finally NIco sighed. "Yes, we do. I don't know how else we'll be able to hide this. BUt maybe, for now at least, you can exclude the part about our parentage? We need to gather their support, and I doubt they would be likely to help us after hearing who our godly parents are."

"Yes, obviously." Mr. D waved his hand acting as if he hasn't just been surprised beyond all his years. "!'ll go right away." He grabbed a card out of a twisting light, and disappeared, leaving a smell that, to Percy, smelled like rotten grapes.

"Oh, Chiron?" Percy spoke up, voicing a question that had been bothering him. "Is there a younger me?"

"Yes." Chiron gave him a stare. There is also a younger Thalia, though no Nico." Percy nodded in response. So this was before they went to get Nico. He looked over at Nico to see how he was taking it, and was surprised to see him clenching his fists. Then he remembered that they were in a time in which Bianca was sill alive. Just thinking that made a pang of guilt through Percy.

"Do we need aliases?" Thalia's voice was slightly hoarse, most likely because she also remembered Bianca.

Chiron gave them an odd look, wary of the charged atmosphere. "Yes. Maybe you can act as older half siblings?" They mulled this suggestion over, and slowly nodded.

"But won't that reveal who our parentage is? And we will need different names as well."

"Possibly." Chiron stroked his beard, and Percy felt slight sorrow over losing him in the future. "But at least then you will not have to hide your powers, and it should be simple to get new names."

Nico spoke up. "Won't we need some kind of story as to why we are here?" Chiron shook his head.

"If you could simply state that it is private, then we shouldn't have anything to worry about."Chiron slowly stood up, shaking out his legs. "For now, you can join us at the dinner pavilion. It is nearly dark, after all." With that he walked out of the Big House.

Percy, Nico, and Thalia looked at each other.

"So...what name do you guys want?" Thalia asked.

A/N: So, second chapter done after veery long wait...sorry about that, but you should start expecting it to be normal. Also, I really need to get some new names, so please review what you think the names should be!

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own the characters, just the plotline.


	3. Chapter 3

Far away, in an unimportant and unknown place, lay a cottage in the woods.

The woods themselves were something special, leaves showing an extraordinarily deep green, sun shining through extraordinarily bright. A slight mist snaked through the tall trees, giving the forest a calming look.

There was a long and winding barely paved path leading to the front of the cottage. The cottage was made of walls of stacked stones, the earthly tones blending together. There was a thatched roof, ivy creeping down the overhang like a spider. The ivy was a lush green, and bore small yellow flower buds, soon to bloom. The window was lined with white stucco, seeming surprisingly modern in the midst of the medieval feeling from the rest.

The general mystique of the cottage was tied together with an oakley door, a metal knocker resting on the wooden surface. The knocker was ornately carved with leaves and berries, and there was a slight indent behind the knocker that indicated that it had been used many times.

The inside of the cabin was just as atmospheric as the outside, with it's odd arrange of homely furniture. The walls were close and the ceiling was low enough so that a basketball player could possibly brush their head against it. There was a fireplace in every room, but they were almost never lit.

Sounds of children laughter raced through the air, small footprints littering the dust carpeting the floor. The house shook and groaned under the weight of the youth running through the halls. This was an after school hideout for all kids who lived in the village nearby, whether they be as old as 17, or as young as 5.

In one room, an alcove rested in the walls. It was high enough as to be barely reached, but low enough as to seem innocent, as if all it held was dust and cobwebs. But that wasn't true.

For in the depths was a candle, shielded from the view of the general room. It's flames caused shadows to dance across the silver plate that the candle stood upon. It's stick of wax unmelting, and it's flame unwavering.

It burned on, for as long as the time is needed.


	4. Chapter 4

Percy looked thoughtful. Then a mischievous glint entered his eyes, a look Nico knew not to trust. "Maybe we can call you Pinecone?" He suggested.

A shouting match and a lightning bolt later, they all were seated on the ground, Percy looking slightly fried.

So far, none of them had found any good names. The ones they came up with ranged from names derived from nicknames-"How about Seaweed?"- to those that were ridiculous puns-"Sea-ker! Seaker! Get it?"

By the time 15 minutes had passed (though it seemed like much longer), they were resorting to sorting through going through childhood memories. At least, what was left of them. Tensions were already high, what with the lack of inspiration. Nico was ready to snap.

He already started causing shadows to collect around him as a result of his frustration. Percy was sitting in a puddle of water, and Thalia was sparking dangerously. This has happened before, where they were too concentrated on something to notice how their power reacted, especially as their abilities grew.

They currently were focusing on finding names for Nico, finding it easier than each doing their own separate thing.

Of course, it was now a decision Nico was regretting. Honestly, how two people that had lived through so much (deathdeath _death_ andcouldn'thealsosaythesame) were so immature.

"Grim Reaper?" Percy repeated for the umpteenth time.

"Deathy Skull?"

"Yew Yonder?"

"Ocin Olegna ed?"

Nico wasn't entirely sure where they got some of these and wasn't in a hurry to find out.

"Maybe... Riposo Kivuli?" Nico ventured, frantic to end the conquest. He was pretty sure that _riposo_ meant rest in Italian, which reminded him of the traditional funeral rites his family had, where they would say _eterno riposo_ , or eternal rest. And Kivuli...that was the name of one of the nicer ghosts he had made friends with in the underworld.

Both were properly death-like and child-of-Hades-y names, and as a plus, Nico actually liked them. Even if they were a bit obvious.

Thalia and Percy stared at him, open-mouthed. Nico was about to continue thinking of names when they spoke.

"That's perfect!" They said in unison, before turning to stick their tongue out at each other for saying it at the same time.

"Okay." Nico was relieved. "Now, let's think of some for you." Surprisingly, after the first breakthrough, the other two came quick.

"Oceanus Starfish?"

"Sea Green?"

Halfway through, Percy started humming 'Under The Sea' to try and help.

"Oh! How about Ceil?" At the other two's questioning looks, Thalia elaborated. "Because of 'sea', 'seal', then 'ciel'!" Still slightly confused, the other two boys agreed, not willing to start up another fight.

"And the last name can be Gen." Percy decided, using a name from earlier. "At least it sounds cool."

Now Thalia. Because of her connection to Artemis, a large quantity of the names were star-related. Thalia was glad of that because she didn't think they could butcher such beautiful star names. She was wrong.

"Starry Star!"

"Black Hole?"

Eventually, they started using famous constellations and stars.

"How about Sirius?"

"Isn't that for boys?"

"Do I look like I care?"

"But aren't you all...feminist and stuff?"

"Percy, I would advise that you shut up now, judging by how Thalia is starting to spark."

It was chosen, along with the nickname 'Siri'.

"And the last name can be Gemini!"

"Nah, too star-related."

"Then what?"

"Nevermind, it's fine."

So at last, the names were finished, and all three were left reasonably happy. Not only did this complete their aliases, but it also took their minds off the deaths of their friends, that were fresh in their minds.

Chiron trotted in, seemingly slightly more weary than before.

 _Impeccable timing as always, Chiron,_ Nico thought wryly.

"Demigods," Chiron said. "The campers are ready for you."

Swallowing back a totally unreasonable bout of nervousness, Nico followed Percy and Nico out the door of the Big House. They walked the familiar path to the dining pavilion.

The second they came into view of the campers, dozens of pairs of eyes fell on them. Nico shifted, slightly uncomfortable.

They made their way to the front, and Chiron backed off like he was expecting them to introduce themselves.

 _Are you crazy, old centaur?_

Percy, being the easy going and utterly illiterate guy he is, stepped forward and greeted the campers in a way not unlike how he did when they first appeared at the Big House.

"Sup?"

Resisting the urge to smack him on the arm-that was Thalia's job- Nico coughed awkwardly and stepped forward. Ignoring the snickers of the campers and the gazes that all concentrated him, he spoke up.

"Right, well." Nico coughed again. He was definitely not good at this _talk in front of a crowd_ stuff. Being a son of Hades, he was definitely more suited for staying in the doom and gloom of the shadows. "Well, I'm-" He tried to remember his name. "Riposo Kivuli. You can call me Kivuli, Riposo, or, if we're friends, which I highly doubt, Ripo." Nico stepped back and gestured to the others to go on, thoroughly satisfied with himself for being polite for once, especially since Thalia had recently started taking pleasure in badgering his social skills. He shot a smug look at her.

Thalia rolled her eyes for, in Nico's opinion, no good reason, and stepped forward. "My name is Sirius Gemini. You can call me Siri. And don't get on my bad side, because then I will not hesitate to fry you and feed you to the harpies."

Percy grinned as she finished, and bounced forward, looking like an easily excited child who had just been given a piece of candy-or, as Nico would put it, like an idiot.

"And I'm Ceil Gem. I'm also awesome. Take your pick." He grinned again at the few chuckles from the crowd, then continued. "I'm also distantly related to Siri, like through our human parents." Thalia, or rather Siri gaped at him, before apparently reminding herself that there was an audience, and closed her mouth, but not before sending a glare in Ceil's direction. Nico merely frowned at him. That was a poorly made lie- they didn't even look alike.

"Okay!" Chiron clapped his hands, cantering forward. "Heroes, now that introductions are done, I believe it is time for dinner. Please refrain from asking questions of our guests until after the meal." With that, he sat down next to the still empty seat of Mr. D.

There were a few moments of silence before the chatter resumed. The three time travelers stood awkwardly for a bit, before Thali- _Siri_ decided to go towards the Hermes table.

"Hey, budge up," She commanded, in her I-Am-Artemis's-Lieutenant voice. It worked, and the boy moved over, providing barely enough space for the three to sit down.

Two boys who looked somewhat similar turned to them.

"Hey, Newbies!" The mischievous tone the first one held in his voice when he started talking made Nico suspicious of who these two were. Percy-Ceil (Why was it so hard to get used to their new names?) seemed to know, because he smirked.

"Yeah?" Ceil asked.

"My dear brother and I were wondering..." The second one started.

"If you two are dating?" The first one finished, waggling his eyebrows in a way that Nico labeled as demented and creepy.

"Who?" Siri asked, barging into the conversation and nearly pushing Nico off the bench in the process. Nico couldn't resist, amusedly remembering a certain trip to the ancient lands, and elbowed her side.

"Owl." Nico muttered.

Siri just hissed at him, before turning expectantly towards the boys. Nico was close enough to see that Siri was getting close to blowing up like she always does when a male does something that insinuates that she should or is violating the Huntress Code (not that she was still a huntress; she had left a while ago after...well, it was a long story).

Percy seemed to notice that too, because he shifted away and pretended to be engrossed in his food and his blue drink.

"You and Emo Dude over there, of course!" The first one exclaimed, eyes twinkling. Nico immediately recognized the eye twinkle as a trait of very few- Dumbledore, and Hermes' kids...more specifically, Travis and Connor Stoll. He mentally smacked himself and moaned about choosing the worst seat possible. They looked so much different as puny twelve-year-olds...

"What's with that name, anyway? Ree-pah-saw?" The second jutted in, horribly butchering Nico's name and making him wince.

"It's Riposo." Nico snapped, feeling oddly protective of his new alias. "And-"

"Do you want to die?" Siri glared coldly at both the twins, before continuing with her usual Huntress-y threats. "I will castrate you if you mention anything of the sort again."

As Siri continued to scare the wits out of the Stolls and any males listening nearby, Ni- _Ripo_ was suddenly struck by the realization that these people...the twins right in front of him...they were dead.

 _Great observation, me._

In his old timeline, of course. But the fact still remained; Travis and Connor had died. Nico had seen Connor die personally, and he had gone to his death mumbling incoherently about a missing twin (probably a hallucinogen). A sad way to go, really.

It worried Ripo that he couldn't feel anything except a strange sort of numbness. Maybe because he was the son of Hades, and he was used to death. Maybe because his brain was accustomed to weird stuff like people coming back from the dead and had decided that, okay, as long as it's an ally that's alive right now and not an enemy, we're all fine. No harm, no foul.

Except that the normal human response would be some kind of reaction to the huge amount of supposed to be dead people that are all alive. Yes, he was shocked when Chiron showed, but that was more from oh-gods-we're-in-the-past-kind-of than hey-look-the-horse-dude-is-alive. Though that was good, too.

It was as if any negative emotions he should be feeling were muted. Were covered in giant bubble wrap and every time Ripo poked at it to let it free a bubble popped and there was a disorienting moment of ugh, loud noise, and then silence once more.

Siri and Ceil didn't seem to be under the influence of those bubble wrapped emotions. Every time a different kid talked to Siri, her eyes would flash a more striking blue and she would grit her teeth. Then she shook it off and reacted appropriately.

Ceil would clench his fists, stabbing at his barbecue a little hard than usual, before forcing an obviously fake smile on his face as he chatted.

Ripo noticed both were on the edge of their seat, tense and unnerved. He could just see the emotional breakdowns happening the second they get to privacy. Ripo was not looking forward to that.

"Why are you so old?" A soft voice intruded on his thoughts.

Ripo didn't respond, thinking they were talking to someone else. A finger jabbed him harshly in the shoulder (Ripo had to restrain himself from grabbing it and giving the owner a taste of his power).

"Hey! He was talking to you!" A boy hissed at him harshly.

Ripo blinked. The original speaker, a nervous looking boy with dark brown hair and nondescript features was sitting on the other side of the table. Next to him, glowering fiercely, was an older boy (maybe by a year or two) with black hair and striking grey eyes.

"I'm sorry," Ripo said smoothly, noting the protectiveness the second boy had. "I didn't know he was talking to me. What was your question again?"

The brunette gulped, glancing at his friend before plowing on. "I was wondering how you're so old 'cause most demigods come in young..." He trailed off, before hastily adding "No offense, mister."

"None taken," Ripo supposed that it must be odd for a couple of 17-year-olds and a 15-year-old to come into camp at this time. "We were lucky and survived. That's how," He carefully watched their reaction to his candidness.

To their credit they didn't so much blink. "Pretty good luck, then," The black haired boy remarked.

"Pretty good," Ripo agreed. "And you are?"

He flushed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly before sticking a hand out. "I'm Jack Knowlson," He slung a hand over the other's shoulders, who stiffened before relaxing. "And this is my buddy, Cole."

Ripo didn't look at the hand nor listened to the shouts and splutters that came along with feigning deafness, and turned to Cole. "No last name?" He asked, eyeing the skinny boy.

There was something guardedly careful in Cole's eyes. "No."

"Ah. Family problems?" He asked casually.

"Why would you care?" Jack immediately jumped to his defense.

"Just curious," Ripo looked at Cole, who had turned slightly pale. "You don't have to answer."

"Ah, thanks?" Cole tried.

"No problem," Ripo said dismissively. "Well, if you'll excuse me..."

He faced his cousins without waiting for an answer. "So, Ceil," Ripo leaned an elbow on the table, managing to find a bit of empty space in all the food clutter.

"Yeah?" Ceil seemed wary of him, though Ripo had no idea why, of course.

"About your little speech up there-" Suddenly Ceil froze, and Ripo stopped talking, expression turning alarmed.

"Per-Ceil?" The color drained from the sea demigod's face, and Ripo leaned towards him. "Ceil, what-?"

"I need to go." He gasped out, before all but sprinting from the table, eyes following him all the way.

Ripo half rose from the table, ready to race after, but Siri placed a hand on his arm.

"Don't." She said lowly. "I'll go. It's Annabeth," Then she followed Ceil, out of the pavilion an out of sight.

Ripo slowly sat down, understanding filling his mind. Then he winced. If that was how he was going to react when he saw Bianca for the first time, the maybe it would be better if he only saw her from afar.

Looking around discreetly and pointedly avoiding the curious and speculative gazes of the other campers, he managed to find a head of blonde curls that was Annabeth (it was hard to do considering she was one of those faces). He swallowed, before quickly looking away. Annabeth had been like a sister to him.

"Hey," A voice intruded quietly. "Why did he leave?"

Nico didn't look back at Jack and Cole. "Why would you care?" He responded, throwing back the words from earlier.

This wasn't going to go well.

A/N:

I apologize for the long wait I did have half of this written, before I hit a road block. A day ago, I woke up with at least a million ideas swimming in my head about this story (which I had all but forgotten about :p) so bam! Here we are, and hope you enjoy it! And thanks for the reviews! Let's try for a few more this time, yeah?

Also, if it wasn't clear before, **this is also on Wattpad under my old username, vbooklover. It will be updated more over there because of easier formatting, but there shouldn't be any major changes in story.**

P.S: I'll try to keep OC's to a minimum, but there may be a few more (they did mention in the book that they had gotten a few new demigods that they haven't really introduced). They are mainly to show Nico's new character after the whole Kronos war thing.

P.P.S: Speaking of the whole Kronos war thing, there's a few things I want to clarify. First, I will be posting a rough sketch of a timeline eventually, but most of the information will be gained from the story. Also, no matter how it may have seemed, the war most definitely was an actual war, and did not just last a day. I will be going back to fix that part.

P.P.P.S: Yes, I know the names are not the best. It was a dare of sorts, and I am determined to work with them.

Edit: 12/11/16- Nothing major, just a few grammar mistakes fixed (including my annoying habit of not using commas correctly) and the slightly embarassing problem of me using Nico instead of Ripo smack dab in the middle of the story.


	5. Chapter 5

"Ripo rhymes with Nico," Ceil stared up at the roof of his cabin from where he was flopped on a bed. "I've just noticed," He rolled over to face his cousin. "Did you do that on purpose?"

Siri sneered at him from where she was hanging upside down from her bunk bed. "Seaweed Brain. Did it really take you this long?"

"I didn't mean for it to be." Ripo offered, wanting to stall, if not completely stop, the upcoming argument. "And it doesn't really rhyme. My old name has a C, and my new name has a P."

"The vowels rhyme, then."

"Sure."

There was silence, in which Ripo twisted around in his chair, Ceil hummed a tune, and Siri tried to figure out which knife to sharpen.

"What exactly are we going to do?" Siri twisted to turn to her cousins, an impressive feat considering her position. Her tone made Ripo pay attention; it was oddly thoughtful. "I mean, we're here, but should we change anything?"

"Of course we should!" Ceil sat up straight to glare at Siri.

"I know that!" She snapped back. " I'm just wondering if we even can without destroying the whole freaking universe. Time paradoxes and all."

"If that would happen, then I doubt Kronos would even had sent us here, as then we'd all be destroyed and there would be nothing to rule," Ripo reasoned. "Maybe we're in an alternate dimension so we don't cause trouble for him in our old one?"

"Time paradox?" Ceil snorted, falling back onto the bed. "Alternate dimensions? I don't really care about that, about how we got here; all I want to do is save everyone."

"We have to be careful." Siri warned. "I want to save them all too, but one misstep and we may be killing them instead."

"Which is why we're going to make a plan," Ripo cut in before Ceil could respond. "Should we write it out?"

"Yeah, let's just put it in the old war code," Ceil suggested. "That way it won't be cracked since Chiron invented it in the future with the...Hephaestus kids..." His eyes glazed over and Ripo knew he was remembering Beckendorf.

"I...don't think I can do it right now," Siri admitted quietly. "It's too soon."

Ripo nodded reluctantly. "I guess it is. but we can't wait too long, or-"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it." Ceil dismissed, flapping a hand at him. "Geesh, always wanting to rush. Is it some child of Hades thing?" There was something in his voice that Ripo didn't like.

"And you'd rather we let everyone die and go to hell like last time?" Ripo snapped.

"That's not what I meant-"

"Stop it," Siri glared at them. "You're both being unreasonable."

"Oh, _we're_ being unreasonable?" Ceil sat up. "Did you forget about that time in Monaco?"

Siri's face darkened, and she looked murderous. "You promised not to ever bring that up again!" She hissed.

"Well, we all know that Percy is one to keep his promises." Ripo couldn't help but add, bitterness making his tongue slip.

Ceil stood up. "You dare to bring _them_ into this?" He growled.

Ripo stood up as well and moved closer. "Oh, I dare."

"Now, boys," Siri gave a smirk entirely unlike her usual ones. This one just screamed _danger!_ "We don't want people to notice you're fighting, do we? Let's just-"

"Oh, the little girl wants to play?" Ripo's face filled with dark loathing, and he turned towards her. "I bet you didn't feel this tough when you were abandoned by the hunt. What had you done again? Oh yeah- _betray Olympus._ "

"Like you were any better." Siri scoffed, the edges of her shirt beginning to blacken. "All that time you wasted as a whiny brat trying to find your dear dead sister, remember? And you," She turned to Ceil as Ripo began to tremble with anger. "You, who killed the only mother figure for us all? Tell me, how did it feel to listen to Sally scream and scream, adamant that her precious son was coming for her?"

Ceil gave a short, hoarse _noise_ before lunging at Siri. She dodged easily and was about to meet his water infused kick with her own lightning covered fist when Ripo came in with his sword, shadows swirling.

Meeting at a standstill, Thalia twisted away, coming at Nico's neck with a rod of lightning reminiscent of that of her father half-formed. Nico jumped out of the way, simultaneously dodging Percy's bullets of water aimed at the both of them, and discreetly sending his shadows into the floor. As tendrils of black slowly made their way to the fast moving forms of Thalia and Percy, Nico jumped at them with his sword, trying to herd them in the direction he wanted.

Percy and Thalia both noticed at the same time, and with a combined growl, punched their hand to the ground, sending shockwaves that immediately dispersed his shadow. Nico didn't even blink, slapping a black shadow onto Percy's eyes. The son of the sea god floundered for a millisecond, and Thalia was ready to hit him with her bolt when there was an explosion of water knocking both of them back.

Thalia immediately sent a charge through the water, disorienting the other two boys long enough for her to get up. The three met in a swirl of shadow, lightning, and water, fighting as if against Kronos himself. It was a wonder not a scratch was made.

They separated and were about to go for it again before hearing a knock at the door.

A pause, and no one made a move.

The knocking came again, louder.

Silence.

Then a sigh, and footsteps padded away.

The three looked at each other.

Nico was the first to drop his sword, though his shadows remained wrapped around his legs.

Percy went next, lowering his fist and making the water recede to a slight dampness.

Thalia finally reduced her charge to just barely sparking.

They stared at each in silence, before Ceil sighed heavily.

"Sorry," He offered, sitting down with a heavy sigh."I probably shouldn't have said any of that."

"Same." Ripo and Siri said in unison, causing their mouths to twitch in slight amusement. Both went back to their original positions, Ripo plopping on the swiveling chair and Siri climbing up the beds. They were all too ready to drop the issue, one that had cropped up a few times before but was quickly pushed aside due to the war.

They spent the rest of the night in silence, none of them catching a wink of sleep.

When they left the next morning, Ceil still had water soaked into his shoes, Siri still had slightly frizzy hair, and Ripo's eyes were still black from the aftereffects of using shadows.

If there was lingering tension, none of them mentioned it.

"Hey!" A voice called out to Ripo as he left one of the training arenas in the early morning. "Uh, Kivuli!" He paused, turning towards the voice.

A breathless- is his name Jack? Or John, or James- dragged an unwilling Coby (that is his name, right?)

Ripo waited until they were near enough before speaking. "Yes?"

J-person held up a finger, still panting. Bending over to brace himself on his knees, he nearly stumbled when C-person suddenly clutched his shirt in a desperate grip.

"Ah, Cole!" J-person looked at him in surprise, before his face softened and he reprimanded the younger boy in a voice almost gentle. "Don't worry, he's safe. Calm down, will you?"

Ripo watched the interaction bemusedly. "What do you mean 'he's safe'?" The son of Hades questioned them, holding back a snicker at J-person's blush.

"W-Well, you feel weird," J-person hesitantly started to explain, face still fire engine red. "Not in a bad way, but more like you're...calm. A stone? An anchor, more like, in a rushing river. It's hard to describe. Your friends feel the same, but yours is more subtle..."

"My what?" Ripo leaned forward, intrigued.

"U-Um..."

"Jack has a sense," Cole intervened before Jack could blush even brighter and completely fumbled up his words. He met Ripo's gaze head on, almost daring him to disbelieve them. "He can tell what kind of person someone is. Good, bad, lying, truthful..."

Ripo stayed silent, observing the emotions running through the previously meek boy. As if realizing his actions, Cole blushed and ducked his head, going back to hide behind Jack.

"Yeah," Jack apparently got back his courage, absentmindedly running a hand through Cole's hair. "I've been developing it for a while."

Ripo hummed. "Undecided?"

"No, son of Aphrodite," Jack blushed again, but continued. "Cole is from Demeter."

"Undecided," He sounded bored and uncaring to even his own ears. "Why were you here in the first place?"

"Oh!" Jack glanced at Cole, suddenly nervous (honestly, how many times was this kid going to switch from full of bravado to a mouse?). "We noticed that you carry around that sheath," He nodded to the piece of leather that Ripo really only had for decoration or loss of powers than anything, considering his shadow sword. "And were wondering if you knew how to use it."

"Yes," Ripo chose the simple answer.

"Can you teach us?" Jack blurted out. "We know the basics, and the sword masters here don't have enough time to teach us anymore."

Ripo stared. Out of all things, he wasn't expecting this. "And what do I get in return?" Cruel, maybe, considering this could someday save their lives, but he wasn't going to waste his time for nothing.

"Uh, our undying gratitude?" Jack tried. At the older boy's blank stare, he sighed. "Servitude. Not too extreme. For as long as you teach us." He sounded glum, but resigned. It was obvious they had expected something like this and knew a simple favor wouldn't be enough.

Ripo smirked. It was enough to make the two boys wish they could retract their offer.

Thalia summed up her nerves. _No,_ she told her shaky hands. _You are not going to dissolve into a bundle of nerves just because you are going to talk to someone who may or may not be related to you. You've spent way too much time as a tree to be afraid of a small thing like that._

She took a deep breath and strode out of her empty cabin, ignoring the familiar sting of loneliness. Thalia was going to talk to the girl newcomer if it killed her.

Ceil knew he shouldn't have said it. But when faced with his best friend since forever deep in depression, what else was he supposed to do?

He had been walking through the camp, drinking in all the sights, untainted by the war. It was beautiful, but heartbreaking. All the memories he had made with his past friends were gone, and he didn't know whether to be happy or morose.

At least he won't scare away any campers with a sudden fit of trauma.

Ceil suddenly imagined the image of Nico- sorry, _Ripo_ going into one of his early morning temper tantrums and throwing arbitrary bathroom products at frightened campers. He laughed quietly to himself.

"Are you insane also?" A voice asked, and all Ceil could think was _no, not now, he isn't ready yet, he isn't-_

"Nope!" Ceil turned and smiled. "Perfectly healthy, thanks for asking. Also?"

"There have been rumors," The girl said, gray eyes assessing. "About you and your friends being...different."

She doesn't finish, and Ceil swallows down a sob.

"Different?" He asks, careful to keep a teasing tone.

"In many ways," She shrugs. "Most popular being a monster in disguise, but that was started by the Stolls."

"Well," Ceil grins. "What do _you_ think? Am I a monster?" He gives a twirl.

"I think," Amusement shown in her eyes. "That you're ridiculous." Then, watching as he laughed, then amended, "Or stupid."

"Oh, I'm heartbroken!" He clasped his hands over his heart.

"I'm sure," She laughed, and suddenly Ceil needed to leave.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, fair lady, but alas I must go," He gave a smile.

"So soon?"The eyes sharpened again.

"Sooner than last time."

He didn't wait to hear her response, turning on his heel and striding off in the direction of his cabin.

Ceil managed to keep on his smile until right inside the door of his cabin, which was thankfully empty.

He really shouldn't have said that.

 **A/N:**

 **Hi.**

 **Sorry-not-sorry for the long wait. If it hasn't been clear, expect inconsistent updating and super long breaks. My muse comes and goes...**

 **To guest reviewer _Zoo_ : I am not specifically trying to make it seem as if they want to go back to their own future (nor do I plan to do so anytime soon). It's more of a shock in the way that hey-we're-in-the-past-where-all-my-loved-ones-died and how they may have to watch it happen all over again. It's stress they do not need after such a long battle, and you can see each of the three dealing with it in their own way. Most obvious at this point is Ceil retreating behind a mask of horrible puns and jokes (no, that wasn't just Percy-Ceil being more Percy than Ceil).**

 **1)I started the part with Ceil a week ago, getting to the first sentence and then leaving it. I come back, and had no idea where I was going. Yay for me. So I made up the rest to fit since I didn't have a better beginning. That's why it's kind of rushed. That wasn't supposed to happen for ages.**

 **2)I may have sort of halfway fallen in love with Jack and Cole. Don't worry, they won't be too important as OCs. Also, the one knocking was Jack.**

 **3) No romance will be happening for the older gen (referring to Siri, Ceil, and Ripo). The younger ones...well...**

 **4)Apparently, I don't know commas. And _arenas_ isn't a word. Someone explain?**

 **the-bane-of-grammar-checks-everywhere,**

 **UWttS**


	6. Chapter 6

Thalia ignored the thumping of her heart. It was going way too fast. She was a daughter of _Zeus,_ and daughters of Zeus did _not_ get nervous.

Surreptitiously, she wiped her palms on her jeans.

At least, she'd expect so. Zeus was the king of all gods, and so as his only known daughter, Thalia had to show a crumb of decorum. Not that she ever cared for it; if punk rock band shirts was what she wanted to where, that's what she would wear.

Idly, she wonders (have wondered) what it would be like to have another sibling, one that she could complain to about the inconsistency of lightening and share secrets with about how she really hated their father.

After Jaso- _he_ disappeared (lost, killed, murdered- Thalia loathed to spectulate) she had barely touched upon the topic, afraid of opening old wounds.

But now there was _possibility_.

Now she had a possible sibling.

 _And here thy root._

What other explanation could be there for someone who looked so similar to her? Same hair, if longer and choppier. Same face drawn with freckles, same eyes that flashed with anger, same _everything_ Thalia saw staring back at her from the mirror.

Except there was this weary confidence the older girl (Sirius, she thought her name was) exuded, wielding it like a sword when standing up to anyone. It was the kind of aura Thalia wanted some day, but was unsure if she would be willing to pay the price to get.

And while Thalia told herself firmly that it was pure curiosity that pushed her to go up to Sirius, she knew that she was just desperate for the chance at blood-related family. After Luke- well, she didn't want to think of that, either.

Pathetic. Thalia scowled at some nearby campers, causing them to gulp. She didn't need _acceptance_ to survive. She had been doing just fine so far with what she had. She was most definitely not craving a chance to allow herself to get close to someone, to find a connection, someone who _empathized_ -

"Oomph!" In her distraction, Thalia had run into another person. She glared at them, trying to regain her balance. "Hey, watch where you're going-!"

She froze in surprise, then groaned. Of course she had run into the very person she was psyching herself up to talk to.

"You okay?" Blue eyes so similar to her own blinked at her, before the girl seemed to realize who she was and stiffened.

Thalia narrowed her eyes at her. Judging by Sirius's tense posture...was she trying to avoid her? Thalia gritted her teeth. She was not going to let this slide. After all the time she had spent agonizing over this moment, she was ignoring her?

"Um-"

"Why were you ignoring me?" Thalia steamrolled right over Sirius's words. The older girl looked like a deer caught in headlights, but Thalia didn't let that deter her. "What did I ever do to you?"

Sirius put her hands on her hips, seemingly jolted (haha, how punny _oh gods she was making puns to herself this is all Percy's fault_ ) out of her reverie. "Who said I was avoiding you? And if I was, I can avoid whomever I want!"

"You totally are!" Thalia crossed her arms. "Don't think I didn't notice how you just reacted."

"I didn't do anything!" Sirius protested.

"And you haven't said a _word._ " Thalia continued. " Not even anything about how we look so alike. And don't say you haven't noticed!" Thalia added. "It's too obvious not to notice. You always look in the other direction. You're definitely ignoring me."

"I'm not!" Sirius snapped. "I'm just- ugh, well this is off to a nice start." She pinched the bridge of her nose and said something that sounded suspiciously like " _Like arguing with my thirteen-year-old self..._ " Thalia couldn't help but agree.

"Just," Sirius seemed to struggle for words, before sighing. "Let's just start over, okay? Hi, I'm Sirius."

Thalia eyed her suspiciously, before relenting. "Hi, Thalia," She said almost grumpily, still annoyed.

"I'm currently unclaimed," Sirius continued. "But I'm probably a daughter of Zeus considering I wield lightning."

Thalia gaped at her before quickly putting herself together long enough to spit out "Claimed, Zeus," before bursting out with a bunch of fast, pointed questions.

"Daughter of Zeus? What do you mean 'wield lightning'? I can only channel it. Who's your mother? What's your last name again? Where were you before coming here? How did you not die? What-"

"Whoah, slow down!" Sirius put her hands up, irritated. "Yes, I mean I wield lightning, my mother is dead, thank you very much for asking, my last name is Gemini, and I really would prefer if you asked your questions _slowly_."

"Wait, _Gemini_? Ha, your names are both astronomy-related," Thalia snorted, not noticing how Sirius didn't answer her last few questions and ignoring her rebuke. "Yeah, I'll talk slower. But did you really expect me not to ask questions?"

Sirius rolled her eyes. "Whatever your questions are, they can wait. I hope you don't plan to detain me here forever?"

Thalia scowled. "As if. Leave, peasant."

Sirius was already sauntering away. "Bye, _your majesty._ "

Thalia hesitated for a few seconds before calling out, "Wait!"

Sirius stopped and half turned towards Thalia. "Yes?"

"Um...have you heard of Jason Grace?" She asked nervously, mentally crossing her fingers. _Please please please oh gods please..._

Sirius had a strange look on her face when Thalia convinced herself to look the older girl in the eye. "Sorry," She said almost gently. "I haven't."

"Oh," Thalia felt hollow. She watched Sirius turn to leave, before suddenly feeling the need to make her stay, if only for a few seconds.

"Hey," She said slowly. "Can we...meet up? I mean..." Thalia shifted her weight, feeling very much like a shy child.

Something in Sirius's eyes softened, and Thalia grimaced. She did _not_ want to seem like some needy kid. "Yeah, sure."

Thalia told herself she did not feel excited at the thought.

Ceil heard the door open behind him and stiffened.

"Ceil!" Siri groaned, collapsing face first in her bed. "My younger self just confronted me. Eck," She made a face, unseen as it was still buried in her covers. "I never thought I would say that. But anyway, she's so annoying!"

Ceil tried for an amused smile. "Well, I already knew that, but what's making you admit it?"

"Shut up," Siri moaned, throwing a pillow at the boy's face. "That was _so stressful._ She asks so many questions it's like she's an Annabeth clone!"

At the mention of Annabeth, Ceil made an odd strangled noise and Siri immediately shut up. He didn't have to look up to know that she was staring at him with concern.

"...Ceil?" He heard the bed shift as Siri got up and came closer. The lighthearted atmosphere from before was all but gone now.

"Ceil, what happened?"

He didn't respond, instead choosing to stare away from Siri's electric blue eyes ( _so like her brother's_ ) to the wall behind her. It was turquoise.

"Ceil, did you meet Annabeth?"

Ceil ignored the question, instead choosing to think about how her voice was soft and hoarse, unused to any sound other than the sharp yell she usually invested in when talking to Ceil. Or Ripo. Or anyone who looked at them twice or annoyed her.

"Ceil, look at me."

She really was over protective, wasn't she? Well, Ceil was the same with her and Ripo. It was something cultivated from being friends for years. They could trust each other to watch their backs, but in anything else? They'd turn into a snarling pack of wolves. Snarling at themselves or an outsider, he wasn't sure.

"Ceil."

Of course, it had served them well over the years. Otherwise, they would've dispersed due to infighting a long time ago. You couldn't just have three children of the Big Three together and not expect something.

" _Percy!_ " Siri grabbed his shoulders, and he could barely restrain the reflex to turn around and stab her with his sword.

"Percy, _look at me._ " There was something in her voice that made him obey. Ceil looked into her eyes and was forcibly reminded that she had also lost someone, had also lost family.

She hasn't met them again. Not yet.

 _Soon, though._

She didn't say anything, only stared at him calmly. Her hair gleamed in the low light, and her freckles stood out in sharp contrast with the paleness of her face. Her eyes were sharp, assessing.

He didn't know whether to scream at her or cry. He chose neither.

Siri didn't stop him as he lurched away from her and walked towards the door..

"You're hesitating," Ripo stalked forward towards Jack, who gulped slightly but stood his ground.

"I don't know why I have to practice on dummies." He grumbled.

"How else do you expect to improve?" Ripo sighed exasperatedly. They have had this argument a few times already.

"They look like humans!" Jack protested. "Way too realistic..."

Ripo's eyes hardened. "You think this is brutal? You'll need that brutality when facing monsters."

Jack stayed stubbornly silent.

"Look at Cole," Ripo nodded at the younger boy, who was attacking his set of dummies with a ferocity that surprised even him, not even glance their way. "He's doing fine. He can handle the sword."

Jack scowled in Cole's direction.

Ripo eyed him, noting the jealousy in Jack's eyes. "I could show you another way," He finally offered.

Jack brightened. "Yeah?" He grinned.

"It'll be incredibly intense," Ripo warned, already feeling guilty from suggesting it, faced with Jack's elated face. "You'll probably hate me for a while."

"But will it work?" Jack asked, determined.

"...Yes," Ripo snorted. "You're going to do it aren't you." _Well,_ he thought remorsefully, _There goes my free time._

Jack nodded, smiling. "Anything so I can master this."

"Okay," Ripo turned serious. "This training is unlike anything you've ever seen before. It involves my magic, and so I must demand that you speak to no one about this, including Chiron. _No one._ "

Gulping, Jack nodded. "Um, I thought you were unclaimed?" He asked, unsure.

"I am," Ripo confirmed. "But I already have known about my powers, and through experimentation, found a strength. I have not been officially claimed, but once you see my powers, your pool of choices will steadily be drained."

Jack mulled over this. "Why can't I tell Chiron?" He asked finally.

Ripo sighed. It would be hard to get past the instinct loyalty to the centaur. "Chiron answers to the Olympians," He responded. "While I trust him with my life, I know whatever I tell him will eventually have to be reported. He has no choice," Ripo added when it looked like Jack would protest.

"And the Olympians can't know?"

"Oh, they'll know," Ripo stated darkly. "They can see everything. Just not the past or future."

Jack wisely stayed quiet at the look on Ripo's face.

"Anyway, it's a lot like what you'd expect from a child of Hecate," Ripo paused, studying Jack's face. "What do you know about illusions?"

A dark hillside shrouded with fog loomed up on the horizon.

The hill was littered with old broken Greek columns of black marble in no pattern that suggested the structure once atop them. The balding grass parted and weaved crazily, whipped by an invisible wind.

All that was the sky was a close, heavy darkness, like the roof of a cave. It was unnatural, and any mortal who came within a ten mile radius felt a chill, a warning.

At the crest of the hill knelt an immortal man.

He was crouched over in the position of an old beggar, hands up towards the black sky as if gesturing to heaven. His legs were bound with celestial bronze chains, his forehead was beaded with sweat, and his immortal glow was dulled.

Gray clouds swirled in a vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountain top, if not for the immortal's shoulders and hands, clutching, shifting, straining.

He was holding up the sky.

A lone figure approached him. It was small compared to the giant man who held up the world. A mortal. A demigod.

He walked into the immortal's view and bowed low. Head down, he stated, loud and clear.

"I am here on behalf of Lord Kronos."

 **_A little snippet of Cole to tide you all over until my next chapter:**

Cole glanced over at where Ripo and Jack were talking. He knew Jack was having troubles with his sword, and he wondered what was going to happen.

Jack was his best friend. His only friend, as pathetic as that sounded. He was everything Cole was not, everything Cole would never be. Cole was shy and reclusive, Jack didn't seem to know the meaning. Cole didn't like talking to people, Jack thrived off of it.

 _Cole could hack a life-like dummy to shreds and Jack couldn't._

He wondered what that meant.

His mama, before she had gone crazy, had always claimed him to be fierce.

 _My little tiger,_ she would croon. Later she would curse it, when his papa left and she was left alone with a son that wasn't hers.

He had never understood it. He was quiet, he was painfully shy, he had a blush that rivaled a tomato. Yet somehow, he loved the thrill in swiping a blade. Loved the _swish_ it made when he swung it just right. Loved the sound of the cloth of the dummy ripping, aiming it specifically away from the stitches to make it harder, messier.

And Jack, kindhearted Jack, couldn't bring himself to do it.

 _Something's wrong with you._

Well, he'd always known that.

 _Hopefully, Ripo won't destroy Jack's innocence._

He didn't respond.

 **A/N:**

 **Whoo.**

 **That was fun.**

 **How'd you like it? I'm trying out some new point of views. I know I said Jack and Cole wouldn't be too major, but I think I'm falling in love with them. Think about it as extra plot devices.**

 **This is yet another filler (so many...), but the actual plot will come along soon. Hopefully.**

 **Next chapter will be filled with Ripo training Jack (and Cole) and will serve to highlight the time travelers unseen growth since the end of (Blood of Olympus? Yeah, let's go with that). Aldo because I haven't seen that many fics that really explore the power of the demigods. And I'm a measurement freak, apparently.**

 **Should I stick with this 2k routine or do you want me to try for 5k to 10k? Be warned, it'll take me a LOT longer to come out with chapters. I'm such a slow writer. Like, 100 words per hour.**

 **Thank you** _ **so much**_ **to anyone who reviewed. Love you. You all inspired me to write this.**

 **actually-running-out-of-time,**

 **vbooklover**


	7. Chapter 7

"To your left."

Jack flinched away, ducking wildly to avoid the dense cloud of dark... _things._ He didn't know what it was, just that it was _coming right towards his face-!_

He was on his feet again, running to get away from the shadowy masses chasing him. Running around a corner and trying to ignore how his bangs were plastered to his face from sweat, Jack frantically looked for the exit. _If there even was one._

Jack shivered at the thought. He wasn't that cruel, was he?

"Right."

Dodging, the son of Aphrodite took a moment to simultaneously revel in the feeling of not having to worry about looking attractive and curse the _devil spawn_ that was putting him through this.

A black tendril shot out and solidified, poking him none-too-lightly in the back. Jack collapsed, groaning as he realized that it was going to bruise spectacularly. Dimly, he noticed that his surroundings were lightening to a shade more appropriate for three in the afternoon.

"You're pathetic."

Jack raised his head enough from the ground to glare at his tormentor, before dropping it just as quickly when his muscles seized. "Shut up..." He moaned, voice muffled. " _You_ try it out and see if you don't collapse. That was too hard!"

Ripo snorted. "To you, maybe." He sat down next to Jack. "This training is going to take a while."

The younger boy scowled. "What did you even do?" He griped. "I've never seen magic like that."

Ripo cast a searching glance at him. "This is where the part about you not telling anyone comes in." It was said lightly enough, but Jack could still hear the threat in his words.

Determinedly looking away so as not to let any fear show on his face, Jake crossed his arms. "Of course not!" He scoffed.

Ripo smiled, and it was ten times more terrifying than Jack had ever seen. "Good. My magic is similar to making illusions-"

"You mean those _things-_ " Jake jabbed a finger over at where the black forms had last dissipated. "Are _fake?_ "

Ripo shot a quick glare at him for interrupting and Jack subsided with a quiet _sorry_. "Not particularly. I, simply put, manipulate the tiny spaces where photons don't hit between and inside molecules to coalesce into the dark solids that you see. They're really not that solid; if anything, they are heavily concentrated gas, due to that. I take advantage of the fact that molecules are mainly made of empty space and that everything 'has a shadow'. "

Jack furrowed his eyebrows. "I...kinda get it?"

Ripo sighed. "I make the shadows in the air move."

"Oh!" A pause. "But wait, how does that even work?"

Ripo shrugged. "Magic," He replied simply.

"Do you know who your parent is, then?" Jack asked.

"No." He abruptly changed the subject. "We should get going. It's nearly dark."

Jack looked around in surprise. He had been so focused on the training _(and trying to save his own life)_ that he had not noticed the setting sun and their shadows get longer.

Speaking of shadows...Jack squinted suspiciously at the nearest one. If Ripo could control them in the _air-_

"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you." Ripo actually looked amused, much to Jack's chagrin. "It's not so easy to just change things that are not really there at will."

The son of Aphrodite made a face that was definitely _not_ a pout, grumbling "It's an honest concern" under his breath.

Ripo laughed, actually laughed. Jack glanced at him in wonderment. It wasn't a very hearty laugh, light and soft as it was, but it was the happiest sound Jack had ever heard from him. Considerably that wasn't very _long-_

"Am I that interesting?" The tone warned Jack to choose his answer very carefully.

"No! I mean, uh, yes? No...?" He cringed, before unconsciously relaxing when Ripo laughed again.

"Ripo!" At the shout, the smile slid off Ripo's face.

A boy was running towards them. Jack could vaguely recognize him as the one who had come with RIpo.

"Ceil." Ripo was stoic, all lightness from before gone.

The boy- Ceil- said urgently "Ripo, you need to come. _Now._ " He glanced at Jack. "There's a...situation."

Something about the statement made Jack's stomach lurch. Ripo turned even stonier. "I'll be right there." Ceil nodded and waited as Ripo turned to Jack. "We'll talk some other time," He offered, and then was gone.

Jack blinked. Well.

Ceil tried to still his shaking hands by shoving them in his pocket as he led Ripo through the camp.

"Who was the boy?" He asked casually.

Ripo didn't spare him a glance. "Some person. We were just discussing some things."

Ceil frowned but didn't push. There were more important things to focus on.

"Why did you call me?"

"Siri's acting weird. It seems important." Ceil responded.

They arrived at the cabin within a few minutes. With slight trepidation, Ceil pushed open the door and they entered with little fanfare.

Siri was there, pacing and frantically muttering to herself in Ancient Greek. Ceil was only able to catch a few words due to the low volume. What little he heard were curses.

She spun around the second they were in sight, and called out, voice almost breaking. "Thank gods you're here."

Ripo took a step forward warily. "What is it?"

"I've been keeping track of things that have been going on," Siri waved a hand towards the mess of papers on her bed. "We came back, so I thought better to be safe than sorry. So, you know, I made friends with dryads and stuff."

The two boys exchanged a glance. They had no idea.

"Anyways, I found out about this _disturbance._ That's what most of the nature spirits called it. Apparently, it's a place that has started to radiate 'evil feelings'- again, direct quote- driving away anyone who comes near, mortals and monsters alike. Hades, even some minor gods have taken to avoid it."

Ceil furrowed his eyebrows. There hadn't been any mention of that before, none that he could remember at the least.

Siri continued to explain. "Naturally I was curious and went a little deeper. One of the satyrs had ventured down there and managed to make it back. He was absolutely terrified, and couldn't even remember why he went in the first place. Whenever asked, he'd just dissolve into ramblings about "the One" or similar titles." Siri's face took on a ghostly tinge, and Ceil knew the situation had shaken her up a lot more than any of them had expected.

"Is it Atlas?" Ripo inquired.

"No, I don't think so. Actually, the satyr referred to them as 'her Greatness' once or twice." Siri took a deep breath. "I'm not sure, but..."

"But?" Ceil prompted when Siri didn't seem like she would continue.

"It seems like these people know a lot more than they should." Siri didn't look at them, but her tone was grim. "They...well, I think they came from the future as well."

"What." Ripo's tone was flat and demanding, Ceil open-mouthed in shock.

"They knew," Siri choked out, and when she turned Ceil could see the panic in her eyes, a panic that was slowly being mirrored. "They knew where the ship was, the Andromeda. They apparently are doing some renovations on it to prevent anything 'explosive', the satyr said. And they went to _the General_ and said that soon...soon they would get it finished. He didn't specify what it was."

There was silence in which they all tried to push back the pure unadulterated fear that was coming over. All this time they had been reassured and content in the assumption that they knew what was going on and were armed with that knowledge. To have an unknown factor not only new but against them changed _everything._

Maybe they wouldn't be able to save everyone.

But they were demigods, and they were used to their plans being ruined in the blink of an eye, so Ceil cleared his mind of worries and stood up.

He locked eyes with Siri. "We need to see that satyr."

Unfortunately, it would take a while for Siri to get to the satyr again. He had gone a trip to, as the wood nymph she talked to called it 'cleanse his soul'. Ripo called it 'do crap'.

In the meantime, the trip planned to prepare. They had been pretty lax for the most part in regards to training or planning, but that was going to change. They had to be ready.

Their first such meeting was in their cabin. Ripo had set up shadows outside that would disappear and notify him if anyone stepped on them. They were incredibly energy costing to keep up, but for an important topic such as this, RIpo didn't want to take any chances.

"First thing up." Siri fingered a pen. They had decided to write their ideas down in the code developed later on during the wars. Only Chiron would have any chance at decoding it now. "The upcoming quest."

Ceil nodded. "What do you guys want to do about the prophecy?"

"Well we can't really _do_ anything, can we," Ripo pointed out. "It's a prophecy."

"Do we or do we not want to go?" Siri asked. "That's the main question. And if we do want to go, how? Like Ripo said, we can't change prophecies."

"Maybe the prophecy has changed?" Ceil suggested half-heartedly. "I mean, our existence has to have done something. I've read enough stories about paradoxes in time that we shouldn't exist to begin with."

"But we do," Ripo frowned. "I say we don't go into how we got here but instead focus on the effects it could have, just so we don't confuse ourselves even more. For all we know, we may not even be in the same reality."

"Ugh, yeah," Ceil wrinkled his nose. "Let's just move on."

"I don't like the idea of us not going on the mission," Siri offered. "We want to be able to fix things, and we can't do that without being right in the thick of it."

"The problem is how. We shouldn't depend on the prophecy just happening to change to fit us- it may not happen." Ripo sat down heavily on his bed. "I really hate the Fates."

"Yeah." Ceil nodded wearily. He blew a strand of hair from his face. "Maybe we can find a way to keep contact with them?"

"Like what? Iris messaging?"

"That isn't very efficient," Siri pointed out, frowning. "Drachmas and a source of water aren't always so easy to find, especially on this specific quest."

They were silent for a few minutes, contemplating this.

"We'll just have to wing it," said Ceil, shrugging. "Or wait until the prophecy comes out to decide."

Ripo kicked the bedstand in a sudden fit of anger. "I hate this!" He growled. "We've come to the past, but can barely do _anything-"_

"Then let's do something." Siri straightened out of her slouch. "Sure, we're limited in that we can't interfere much with the quests, but we can do things at camp."

"Like?" Ceil asked.

"Train. Not only ourselves, but others. We remember them from the future. If we can help get them to that level now..."

Ripo quickly caught on, and from the expression on Ceil's face, he had too. "We can make it so they are strong enough that they don't get hurt or die." He said, smiling.

"Not in the first war or the second."

They all looked at each other, elated in their temporary solution. Ripo thought back to the macabre scenes that came from waging war against the world's monsters. All that could be prevented.

"I'll go talk to Chiron about it." Ceil volunteered.

Siri was pacing back and forth. "We'll need a program...something a little more organized and rigorous than what is already offered here..."

"Separate courses for physical defense and offense and for demigod abilities?" Ripo offered. "It won't be of too much use now, but later, when the more powerful demigods come..."

They worked through the night, bolstered by this new idea. For the next few days, that was all they were really doing.

Ceil had gone to Chiron and was given clearance. Ripo dealt with Jack and Cole about training. They both looked appropriately sullen about the break.

"But what happened to our deal?" Jack had whined.

Siri had still taken a few breaks to talk with Thalia but was often seen chatting with the nymphs and dryads, pouring over piles of papers. She also went numerous times to check when the satyr would return but would come back with no information.

It wasn't until a week after they had first come up with the training program idea did they hear the news.

They had been going over the draft in their cabin, which was in its final stages when they heard a knock at the door.

Siri, being closest, was voted to go open the door. It was revealed to be the dryad that she had talked to before.

"He's back," the dryad said, skipping pleasantries. "But he's still a little off, so be careful."

Immediately Ceil dropped the pencil he was twirling and followed her as she led them to the woods near the lake.

"This part of the forest is all safe," she explained to them as they walked. "But it's not used for your silly game." She wrinkled her nose."Otherwise, it would be ruined." Ceil almost protested. He shut his mouth when Siri stamped on his toes.

They finally arrived at a small clearing. Numerous satyrs and dryads mingled there, laughing and talking. There were a few plates sporting a wide variety of berries and leaves spread around, refilled regularly by a satyr with a vine wrapped around his horns. In the center was a crowd of them, all circling around a young dryad.

"Is this a party?" Ceil asked, only for the dryad to shoot him a scathing look.

"It's a celebration of a new oak dryad maturing." Her expression lightened. "She's such a sweetheart oak, though. Everyone loves her."

"Oh. Like, a birthday party?"

"No." The dryad didn't seem willing to say anymore.

She went up to a satyr lounging on the other side of the clearing and started to talk to him. The three demigods stood followed awkwardly, trying to avoid the curious glances thrown in their direction by the others there.

A few minutes passed before the satyr their guide had talked to let out a piercing, sharp whistle. The whole clearing immediately silenced.

"Sorry to interrupt," his deep, booming voice rang out. "But someone needs Aspen."

There was some tittering, and then a satyr broke out from the crowd and strode over to them. As he did, the noise started back up again.

"Yes?" Aspen asked, a frown working its way onto his face as he looked over them.

"These ones were asking after you." The dryad nodded her head in their direction. "About..." She leaned closer and whispered something into his ear that made him go pale.

"Oh- alright," he said, resigned. Ceil almost felt sorry for him. "Let's go somewhere more private."

 **A/N:**

To anyone who was wondering about the implications I made that Ripo can control all solids due to 'everything having a shadow', the reason that phrase is in quotes is because he is referring specifically to shadow as in the lack of _things_ (meaning the lack of light). My explanation as of now is that air molecules can be manipulated and pressed together for their lack of density. Also, to even do so, one has to expressively _know_ the molecule. Trust me, Ripo had to work a lot to get to this stage.

No, I was definitely _not_ inspired by Naruto. Maybe. Really. Just a teensy bit.

Circular logic that doesn't really make sense aside...

Don't worry, the others will get a chance to showcase their powers soon. Nothing too OP, though. Especially with that new program...

To clarify for some reviews* (thank you for taking the time!): This is AU. It does not follow canon because it's, ya know, _time travel._ And yes, time travel is supposedly 'destroying the fabric of reality', but in a world where the laws of conservation and quantum mechanics are thrown to Cerberus, time travel is almost normal. Of course, to mess with time is just asking for plotholes but...I just really wanted to write a 'hey look they're back in time' thing for the Big Three's children. If you're looking for a fic that covers all of that, you won't find it here.

*This was over on wattpad but I decided to post it here too.

Sorry for the long wait...honestly it's probably gonna happen again. Hectic schedule.

See you on the other side,

UWttS


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